State unveils measures aimed at reducing jail suicides

Sandra Bland, in orange jumpsuit, during a second suicide screening inside the jail. Bland would be found dead inside her jail cell later.

Sandra Bland, in orange jumpsuit, during a second suicide screening...

AUSTIN - As state officials debuted a new intake form aimed at preventing suicides in Texas jails, lawmakers moved Tuesday to divert more mentally unstable people from lockups to treatment programs as a way to curb the growing number of self-inflicted deaths.

House County Affairs Committee Chairman Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, made it clear during a public hearing on the issue at the State Capitol Tuesday that lawmakers want to move forward quickly to make changes to state policies on supervision and screening, "so we can get people to the right place, out of a jail, if they are suicidal."

After the hearing, Coleman asked the Texas Commission on Jail Standards to bolster mental health training requirements for jailers, to ensure arrested people with severe mental health issues are referred to appropriate medical facilities, and to increase the number of jail inspections to twice a year to ensure that the local and county lockups are safe.

Greater supervision

A proposed change to the county jail intake form would remove questions asking the screening officer if they suspect mental illness or retardation in an inmate.

A proposed change to the county jail intake form would remove...

Coleman said several changes to state law also are being studied, including medical screening of suspected mentally ill inmates within eight hours of their arrival in jail, increased use of cameras in jails to allow closer supervision of troubled inmates, boosting mental-health training for jailers from about five hours to 40, creation of an ombudsman to investigate complaints about jails, and changes to ensure that mentally troubled inmates are assigned to housing areas where they can be closely monitored.

"We are looking at better interventions," Coleman said at the close of the first of several expected legislative hearings on what can be done to curb the growing number of suicides in county and city jails. "Screening and diversions are important, but improvements in training and supervision are another factor."

A separate hearing on jail conditions by the Senate Criminal Justice Committee is set for next Tuesday.

The announced ramp-up of anti-suicide measures came as Brandon Wood, executive director of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, which monitors jail conditions, told the House committee that half of the record 29 people who have committed suicide in Texas county jails this year told jailers they were suicidal when they arrived at the lockups.

The increased number of jail suicides this year – compared to 22 in 2014, 25 in 2013, and 23 in 2012 – has become the focus of several ongoing investigations and legislative inquiries, spurred, in part, by the July 13 death of community activist Sandra Bland in the Waller County Jail.

Despite general support from sheriffs to stop suicides, some counties already have expressed concerns about the additional costs the changes could bring in areas of Texas where jail budgets are small and taxpayers cannot pay for expensive new programs. In years past, several plans by state officials to impose tougher rules on county and local jails have been scuttled by opposition from local officials who oppose unfunded state mandates on their jail operations and who wield considerable clout with local legislators.

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Wood said the new intake screening form is designed to help jailers better identify potentially suicidal inmates.

"We need to make this as user friendly as possible," he said. "I'm willing to try just about anything to prevent these suicides, if we can."

Previous screening forms asked jailers whether they suspected an inmate was suffering from mental illness. The new form removes that subjective element, officials said; if inmates give certain answers, jailers are required to notify their supervisors and contact local mental health authorities.

The form also uses a grading system to serve as an additional guide to jailers on when to contact mental health professionals even if an inmate's answers would not immediately initiate a referral.

"I think what the form does is, perhaps, make it more clear and less vague for those (screeners) who are, maybe, unsure of themselves," said Lindsay Hayes, project director of the National Center on Institutions and Alternatives and a nationally recognized expert on suicide prevention in jails.

He said it was important that training make clear to screeners that if they think an inmate is suicidal or mentally ill, they still have the option of contacting mental health professionals.

"A screener should always have the ability to refer to a mental health authority even though responses might not hit the threshold for a referral," he said.